METiS Therapeutics announced they have entered a license agreement with Voronoi, Inc. Under the terms of this license agreement, METiS will receive exclusive license to develop and commercialize Voronoi's pan-RAF inhibitor program worldwide. In exchange, Voronoi will receive up to $1.7 million in upfront cash and success-based near-term discovery milestones. Voronoi will also be eligible for success-based payment up to $480.5 million in development, regulatory and sales milestones and tiered royalties based on annual net sales.

BRAF is a protein kinase involved in cancer cell growth and BRAF mutations are the most common mutation found in tumor cells. While several BRAF v600E inhibitors have been approved, this mutation only represents about 45% of total BRAF mutations, compared to Class II and III mutations which represent 55% of total BRAF mutations. This underscores the need for new therapeutic options in this space.

This news follows METiS' announcement that the company had joined the Roche Accelerator earlier this year. In December, METiS closed an $86 million Series A financing round. The company recently leased 14,000 square feet of mixed office and laboratory space at 101 Cambridgepark Drive in Cambridge, MA.